TOH Top 100 2016: Best New Outdoor Living Products

Yard work is about to get a lot more interesting. These 14 new products, all named to this year’s TOH Top 100, include a high-tech electric meat smoker and a stand-up weeder. Less high-tech: a souped-up machete that doubles as an axe, and a hybrid blueberry bush yielding fruit twice a year

By the editors of This Old House magazine

TOH Top 100 2016: Best New Outdoor Living Products

1×

21-Inch Power+ Snow Blower

21-Inch Power+ Snow Blower

• Ego Power+
Finally, a cordless, single-stage snowblower that goes beyond clearing short walkways. Its pair of 56-volt lithium-ion batteries have enough power to hurl a 21-inch-wide swath of snow up to 35 feet. On a single charge, its rubber paddles can clear drifts as deep as 13 inches from a 1,200-square-foot driveway.

Machete Axe

Machete Axe

• Fiskars
Swung with one hand or two, this souped-up machete has a tempered 18-inch blade that makes fast work of overgrown brush. Use the ax-like tip to slice off tree suckers, chop through roots, or clean out patio joints.

Digital Electric Smoker with SmartChef Technology

Digital Electric Smoker with SmartChef Technology

• Char-Broil
Sync this electric smoker to your Wi-Fi network and load it with a pork shoulder or a few racks of ribs. A probe tracks the meat’s temperature and beams it to your smartphone, letting you know when the meal is ready.

80V 10-Inch Cordless Pole Saw

80V 10-Inch Cordless Pole Saw

• Greenworks Pro
This 8-foot-long, 16½-pound tool spins its chain as fast as some gas-powered models and has enough run time to make 200 cuts through 3½-inch-thick branches. Chain tension can be adjusted on the fly without reaching for a socket wrench.

Polyurethane Soaker Hose

Polyurethane Soaker Hose

• Water Right
Soaker hoses made from recycled tires may leach toxic chemicals into the water. This ½-inch-diameter tubing is made of a food-safe, open-cell polyurethane that’s lead-, phthalate-, and BPA-free­—perfect for your veggies.

Stand-Up Weeder

Stand-Up Weeder

• Ames
With this tool, there’s no bending to pull weeds. Just press down with your foot and pull up; its spiral teeth grip and twist, extracting taproot and leafy growth all in one motion. Then pop the pesky plant loose with a satisfying pump of the handle.

Haven Backyard Lighting and Mosquito Repellent System

Haven Backyard Lighting and Mosquito Repellent System

• NuTone
When lit, these 40-lumen landscape lights vaporize enough EPA-registered, odorless blocker to protect 110 square feet from those bloodsuckers. Repels more than 90 percent of mosquitoes that carry West Nile and Zika. Each cartridge lasts about 216 hours.

ReColor by Wipe New

ReColor by Wipe New

• Rust-Oleum
Bring faded outdoor surfaces—including plastic, metal, and vinyl siding—back to their original color by simply wiping on this invisible coating. It also provides up to two years of protection against UV rays and corrosion.

Perpetua Blueberry Shrub

Perpetua Blueberry Shrub

• Brazel Berries
This hardworking hybrid sets two batches of fruit—in midsummer and fall—and doesn’t need a companion pollinator. In fall the foliage is
a deep burgundy, and in winter the stems are a striking yellow and red.

Outdoor LED Flood Smartbulb

Outdoor LED Flood Smartbulb

• ilumi
App-controlled lighting is easier without the hassle of a hub, so welcome the first outdoor-rated bulb that lets you use your smartphone or tablet to turn it on, change its color, set its schedule, or sync it to music.

TB4200 String Trimmer

TB4200 String Trimmer

• Troy-Bilt
This trimmer can deliver the torque of an 80-volt tool with just a 40-volt battery. The secret? A revolutionary, featherweight motor powered by a spinning circuit-board disk, not the heavy copper windings found in standard motors.

Multi-Purpose Lawn Rake

Multi-Purpose Lawn Rake

• True Temper
The plastic tines found on most leaf rakes are prone to snap. That won’t happen with this rake’s tough steel claws, which can spread rocks and mulch and de-thatch lawns, as well as gather leaves.

Turbine Fusion Blower/Mulcher/Vac

Turbine Fusion Blower/Mulcher/Vac

• Worx
This blower pushes 525 cubic feet of air per minute at 60 mph. That’s enough power to move a brick, so imagine what it does to leaves. Converts easily to leaf-sucking vacuum mode. Its two metal impeller blades pulverize leaves, reducing 24 bags to just one.

21-Inch Power+ Snow Blower

• Ego Power+
Finally, a cordless, single-stage snowblower that goes beyond clearing short walkways. Its pair of 56-volt lithium-ion batteries have enough power to hurl a 21-inch-wide swath of snow up to 35 feet. On a single charge, its rubber paddles can clear drifts as deep as 13 inches from a 1,200-square-foot driveway.

Machete Axe

• Fiskars
Swung with one hand or two, this souped-up machete has a tempered 18-inch blade that makes fast work of overgrown brush. Use the ax-like tip to slice off tree suckers, chop through roots, or clean out patio joints.

Digital Electric Smoker with SmartChef Technology

• Char-Broil
Sync this electric smoker to your Wi-Fi network and load it with a pork shoulder or a few racks of ribs. A probe tracks the meat’s temperature and beams it to your smartphone, letting you know when the meal is ready.

80V 10-Inch Cordless Pole Saw

• Greenworks Pro
This 8-foot-long, 16½-pound tool spins its chain as fast as some gas-powered models and has enough run time to make 200 cuts through 3½-inch-thick branches. Chain tension can be adjusted on the fly without reaching for a socket wrench.

Polyurethane Soaker Hose

• Water Right
Soaker hoses made from recycled tires may leach toxic chemicals into the water. This ½-inch-diameter tubing is made of a food-safe, open-cell polyurethane that’s lead-, phthalate-, and BPA-free­—perfect for your veggies.

Stand-Up Weeder

• Ames
With this tool, there’s no bending to pull weeds. Just press down with your foot and pull up; its spiral teeth grip and twist, extracting taproot and leafy growth all in one motion. Then pop the pesky plant loose with a satisfying pump of the handle.

Haven Backyard Lighting and Mosquito Repellent System

• NuTone
When lit, these 40-lumen landscape lights vaporize enough EPA-registered, odorless blocker to protect 110 square feet from those bloodsuckers. Repels more than 90 percent of mosquitoes that carry West Nile and Zika. Each cartridge lasts about 216 hours.

ReColor by Wipe New

• Rust-Oleum
Bring faded outdoor surfaces—including plastic, metal, and vinyl siding—back to their original color by simply wiping on this invisible coating. It also provides up to two years of protection against UV rays and corrosion.

Perpetua Blueberry Shrub

• Brazel Berries
This hardworking hybrid sets two batches of fruit—in midsummer and fall—and doesn’t need a companion pollinator. In fall the foliage is
a deep burgundy, and in winter the stems are a striking yellow and red.

Outdoor LED Flood Smartbulb

• ilumi
App-controlled lighting is easier without the hassle of a hub, so welcome the first outdoor-rated bulb that lets you use your smartphone or tablet to turn it on, change its color, set its schedule, or sync it to music.

TB4200 String Trimmer

• Troy-Bilt
This trimmer can deliver the torque of an 80-volt tool with just a 40-volt battery. The secret? A revolutionary, featherweight motor powered by a spinning circuit-board disk, not the heavy copper windings found in standard motors.

Multi-Purpose Lawn Rake

• True Temper
The plastic tines found on most leaf rakes are prone to snap. That won’t happen with this rake’s tough steel claws, which can spread rocks and mulch and de-thatch lawns, as well as gather leaves.

Turbine Fusion Blower/Mulcher/Vac

• Worx
This blower pushes 525 cubic feet of air per minute at 60 mph. That’s enough power to move a brick, so imagine what it does to leaves. Converts easily to leaf-sucking vacuum mode. Its two metal impeller blades pulverize leaves, reducing 24 bags to just one.